Morphology
The morphology of the blends is characterized by
means of a Philips XL30 SEM. To do this, the samples
are fractured in liquid nitrogen, and then the
fractured cross sections and surface of samples
which are sputter-coated with gold layer are used to
investigate the phase morphology.
Swelling
The vulcanized samples are first subjected to extraction
process using acetone for around 120 h to remove
the residual soluble components after vulcanization.
The extracted samples are vacuum-dried under 608C
for 2 h and then the dried specimens are weighed. After
drying the samples, they are dipped into toluene
at room temperature for 120 h. The swollen samples
are removed from the solvents and wiped off using
tissue and weighed. The swelling coefficient, Q, is
obtained using the following relation26: